Bittersweet
by Berkwood Court
Summary: Ron has finally cut ties with Lavender, who is infuriated. How dare Hermione Granger steal her Won-Won? *Chapter 2: Lavender finally has a chance to make things right with Hermione. (Yes, Romione, but very little fluff, if any at all. Second chapter starts sad but gets happier.)*
1. Chapter 1

That _witch!_ Lavender Brown thought to herself. She used a different word in her head, but according to her "How to Get Over a Wizard in 12 Easy Steps" book, she should tone down her swearing. She had every right to curse as much as she wanted, in her opinion. That horrid troll stole her boyfriend away from her. One minute, she and Ron were happily in love. They were snogging in the corridors, and empty classrooms, and the Great Hall… Then Ron was telling her to bugger off.

Honestly! Lavender Brown, the prettiest, funniest, sweetest, most desirable girl in 6th year was told to "bugger off." Step 2 in her book was to compliment yourself; that was the easiest step, in her opinion. Why did Ron change his mind if Lavender was so incredible?

And who did he think he was? She'd admired him from afar _all year._ She'd finally made a move after a Quidditch game and he'd responded. They were supposed to be together forever! Ron was hers and he had no right to leave her like that. Now she was resorting to Self-Help books.

That Hermione Granger was an evil little boyfriend-stealing know-it-all, she was. Ron was Lavender's, not Hermione's! What did she even see in him? They hadn't been on speaking terms in months, but after he was poisoned, suddenly he was all interesting again.

Witch. How dare she steal her Won-Won? She'd never shown any romantic interest in him, so Lavender thought for sure it would be safe to court him, but _no_, Hermione decided to get possessive of what was never hers to begin with. Unless they were about to get together, the Hermione should have just-

Wait. Were they? Were they really about to get together? Lavender paused her inner ranting to contemplate. She knew Ron had cancelled their date to Professor Slughorn's party; Lavender had threatened to end their relationship if he didn't. Later, she had found Hermione crying in her bed. Was that why? Had she fancied him and planned to make a move at Professor Slughorn's party?

Everything was clicking into place. Suddenly, Lavender's rage faded and was replaced by guilt. Hermione hadn't stolen Lavender's boyfriend- Lavender stole hers.

Well, sh- er, fit? Bit? Sod it, never mind the Self-Help tips now! This was bad. This was really, really bad. Lavender reconsidered her previous question, replacing Hermione with herself.

How dare she steal Hermione's Ron? Who did she think she was- when it was so obvious _now_- Hermione must've been miserable- Lavender needed to fix this. She could've found someone else to snog, McLaggen wasn't horrible-looking, but she had to have Ron. Oh, Godric. Lavender was the boyfriend-stealing troll, not Hermione. She needed to apologize now that she understood.

Lavender jumped up out of her bed and didn't even glance at her reflection in the mirror before sprinting out of the dorm and downstairs. She needed to find Hermione and make things right. She barreled down the stairs and into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Hermi-" Lavender was about to call out when she saw something that made her stop in her tracks.

In a corner, barely visible from where she was standing, were Ron and Hermione. With a hand over mouth, Lavender crept closer to hear what was being said. It looked like a private moment, but she couldn't help herself.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," Ron was murmuring repeatedly. A glance down told her that he was clutching Hermione's hands in his. "So sorry."

Hermione sniffled softly and Ron pulled her into his arms.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," he told her. "I can fix this."

Hermione mumbled something in response and Lavender saw Ron tighten his hold on her. The moment that had previously been a bit private was turning more and more intimate. She felt glued to the spot, despite her mind screaming at her to leave them alone.

Lavender felt her heart shatter a bit more, then begin to mend itself. This relationship, the open tenderness… that's what she wanted. It was exactly what she longed for. Ron was never hers, she realized, and she was definitely never his.

The pair was whispering now and the moment was completely raw. Lavender could tell something was being confessed from both sides, so she commanded herself to go back upstairs. She could apologize later, they had all the time in the world.

…

**Author's Note:** I could make this a two-shot, if you guys like this enough. I have an idea. :) Sorry if Lavender is OOC, I tried to have a change of sorts at the end. How was it? Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I only got 3 reviews, but they all asked for a second chapter. This is for you guys, **RomioneShipper**, **HazelHPwiz**, and **FlatWeasley**! :) I hope you like it.

…

**Bittersweet, **Chapter 2

Hermione's POV.

…

The war was over, Voldemort was gone. This should be a time for celebration, so why did Hermione feel like her heart had been ripped out of her chest? Why did she feel like she was one of the many casualties?

Too many innocent people died, too many families were ripped apart. The Weasley's were included in the broken hearted; their son and brother, Fred, had been killed.

Ron's brother was gone. They'd never hear his laugh again, never be teased mercilessly by the twins. Fred would never know that she and Ron had finally stopped being oblivious and were together. He'd never get married, or have little prankster babies, he'd never get to grow old.

Her eyes filled with tears, though she felt like she'd been crying her entire life by now. Her eyes should be dry, it didn't seem possible that she was able to produce more tears.

The Weasley's were all holding each other and sobbing; Hermione couldn't bring herself to pull Ron away. Instead, she moved to a wall and slid down with her arms wrapped around herself. Her tears slid down her face without permission, but she didn't bother brushing them away. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remind herself that Voldemort was gone, it was all over.

It didn't help. She pulled her knees to her chest and held them impossibly closer. Hermione buried her tearstained face in her legs and sobbed openly.

She barely noticed when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She was beyond caring who was watching her lose control like this.

"Hermione," someone whispered. They tried to pry her arms away from her legs, but she was too upset to obey. "Come on, Hermione."

Without opening her eyes, or even bothering to wipe her face, she stood up and let the stranger lead her to a more private area. She stumbled blindly until her companion stopped her from going any farther.

Hermione pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and tried to stifle her sobs. Finally, her bawling softened to hitched breathing and the occasional sniffle. When she felt up to it, she opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred from the tears and she looked up at the face of the stranger, expecting the familiar red hair and freckles that belonged to Ginny Weasley. She knew the person was female, but the last person she expected to see was Lavender Brown.

"Lavender?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah," the blonde said, like it was obvious. "I just wanted to apologize, you know, for stealing Ron last year. He wasn't mine, but I wanted him anyway." She looked down at her feet with pink cheeks.

"It's fine," Hermione told her, still in shock. Lavender was _apologizing_? "If you hadn't, I doubt we'd be together now, actually. Neither of us would have been brave enough to make a move, especially with the war. I guess I should be thanking you."

"No, I took him when he was never mine to begin with," she argued. "It wasn't right, and I've wanted to apologize to you forever. The one time I actually had the nerve to, I found you with Ron and… I couldn't bring myself to interrupt. Next thing I knew, you all disappeared. I never got another chance."

"Lavender, I-"

"No, let me finish," the blonde huffed. "I was mad at you for a long time. I mean, I thought you'd stolen my Won-Won, but then I realized: he was yours! I stole your Won-Won, and I felt awful. But now you guys are together, right? You said so yourself. But I still hadn't apologized, so… I'm sorry. Honestly." She looked up from the floor and stared at Hermione with shiny eyes. The latter gaped at her.

"Lavender, I never asked you to apologize," Hermione said shyly. "Thank you, though. It means a lot that you don't hate me."

"I never hated y- yeah, I did. Sorry about that." Lavender shrugged.

"Thanks," Hermione smiled. Lavender grinned back at her.

"That's a load off my shoulders. So, are we friends then?"

"Sure," Hermione replied.

"Good. So, _friend_, tell me- how did it happen? Don't leave out any of the details, I want to know everything! Was it romantic? Were there flowers and candles? Oh, I bet it was so sweet!" Lavender gushed. Hermione groaned inwardly and tried to figure out a way to make their kiss seem a bit more like a perfect, fairytale moment.

"Well, there were no candles- or flowers. Sorry, Lavender. But it was still perfect, though I was the one that initiated it," she informed her matter-of-factly. Lavender's mouth fell open.

"Wait, let me get this straight- _you_ kissed _him?!_ No way!"

"In the middle of the war, actually. It was a spur-of-the-moment affair. I just thought 'we could both be dead by the end of today, I might as well do it,' and I did. He literally lifted me off my feet." Hermione smiled at the memory. Lavender squealed.

"Oh, that's so perfect! It's like you were made for each other," she sighed. "Has he kissed you since then?"

"No, but he will," Hermione paused. "At least, I think he will. He's held my hand several times tonight, he even called me his girlfriend once, but maybe that was just because he thought we were going to die. Oh, Godric, it probably was."

"What are you going on about? Of course it wasn't because he thought you'd both end up dead! I've seen the way he looks at you, it drove me crazy. He never looked at me that way, even while we were dating."

"Maybe I'm just kidding myself with this," Hermione ignored the other girl's protests. "He'd never want a know-it-all like me, he called me a nightmare back in first year, you know. He's been annoyed by me since the day we met, and old habits die hard. What should I do? I don't want to scare him off, Godric knows he doesn't need another Laven- I mean, Ron doesn't like clingy girls," Hermione desperately hoped that Lavender didn't notice her slip up.

"Clingy girlfriends are the worst, aren't they?" The blonde was oblivious, and for once it didn't bother Hermione. "Watching those kinds of girls makes me sick, the way they hang all over their boyfriends, snogging them constantly… It's disgusting."

Hermione laughed at that. Was Lavender Brown, the epitome of clingy girlfriends, admitting to being annoyed by that type of girl? That she was oblivious was an understatement. Not that Hermione would be the one to burst her bubble, of course.

"I know what you mean," she giggled. "I don't want to turn into one of those girls."

"Me either," Lavender agreed. This set Hermione off into another fit of laughter. "I'm certain that Ron won't push you away, though. I know I can be sort of unobservant at times, but even I've seen the chemistry between you two. I think that's why I wanted him; I wanted that spark, but it was only for you."

"Chemistry," Hermione repeated. "Ron and I have chemistry?" She'd never really thought of it that way, to be honest.

"Definitely! Especially when you bicker, that's when we can all really tell. I think most of us were half expecting you to lunge for each other's throats, but end up snogging instead. It's cute," Lavender sighed dreamily.

"Interesting."

"I'm glad it's you that Ron's with. I realized, after we broke up, that I can do so much better!" Lavender continued babbling. Hermione rolled her eyes at the back-handed compliment. "In fact, I think I've found someone else already."

"That's great, Lavender," Hermione told her.

"Aren't you going to ask who it is?" she demanded. _Must I?_ Hermione thought to herself.

"Who is it?"

"Seamus Finnigan!" Lavender clapped a hand over her mouth and giggled.

"Really? I never would've imagined that you'd fancy him," Hermione mused. "Well, I think I'd better be heading back now. The Weasley's, you know… Fred…" she winced.

"That's right! Didn't one of the twins get killed?" Lavender asked. "That's horrible, I never would've thought there would be a day where only one of the twins was here to wreak havoc on us all. They were always together; not seeing the two of them side by side is going to take some getting used to."

Hermione couldn't speak, so she merely nodded. Lavender put a hand on her shoulder before speaking again.

"Go," she told Hermione. "I bet Ron's looking for you." She smiled faintly. Hermione nodded again and made her way back into the Great Hall.

…

**Author's Note:** There. I think it's finished. Unless someone wants a way future chapter, like Ron and Hermione's wedding and Lavender is invited, but Ron has no idea that she and Hermione made up? I don't know. If you want something else, let me know with a review.

If not, review anyway. Feedback makes me happy. I hope this was worth reading. Did anyone like the Lavender oblivious-ness? I found it hilarious, but maybe that was just me. Author biased, you know…

Anyway, please let me know what you thought!


End file.
